The Evolution of Guido
From: IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - 12/2008
By: Gerard J. Lacey and Diego Rodriguez-Losada

A Smart Walker for the Blind

Guido, a smart walker developed by Haptica (Dublin, Ireland), is a robotic
walking aid that addresses the needs of the frail visually impaired,
providing them with a safe means of taking exercise independently as well as
navigation assistance in new environments. It was based on a program of
research in the Trinity College Dublin from 1995 to 2000. Many similar
devices have subsequently been developed, such as the RT-Walker from Kosuge
and Hirata Laboratory, the walker developed by Medical Automation Research
Center, and the Personal Aid for Mobility and Monitoring (PAMM) devices
developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Guido has
important distinctive characteristics such as its design, its
commercialization, and its recently developed map-based navigation. Following
the success with the sales of preproduction units of Guido to the US
Department of Veterans Affairs, it was withdrawn from the market in early
2002 following the aftereffects of 9/11 and the dot-com crash. Recently, we
have initiated a program of research to update Guido, with the latest
research results in simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). In this
article, we review the design and development of Guido and go on to describe
the updates that have been empirically evaluated in office and nursing home
environments and compare then with the previous control strategy. Finally,
the implications are discussed and its future work outlined. 

Links:
Guido smart walker
http://www.haptica.com/id2.htm

Guido, the Robotic SmartWalker for the frail visually impaired
http://www.intelligentcontrol.es/diego/publications/RodriguezLosada_Drt4all05.pdf

Clinical evaluation of Guido robotic walker
http://www.rehab.research.va.gov/jour/08/45/9/pdf/rentscheler.pdf

A Robotic Wayfinding System for the Visually Impaired
http://www.aaai.org/Papers/IAAI/2004/IAAI04-014.pdf

Full text of IEEE article:
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=4658323&isnumber=4658309&tag=1